Assessment of selenium status in biological material

Abstract Selenium is an essential trace element to man. Assessment of the selenium status, including its determination in biological materials, has been improved by the advances in analytical methodology. In this report we present the procedures used for selenium determination in different biological material by using nuclear analytical techniques, in particular PIXE, XRF and NAA. The difficulties associated with quality control of these measurements are discussed in some details. Examples of selenium determination in material are presented.